Today i have purchased the cpu below. AMD CPU AM3 Phenom II X4 955 quad core 3.2GHz x4 Black Edition Got myself a small problem chosing a MotherBoard as alot of sites are confusing me, many show motherboards shown as AM3 but are in fact AM2+ instead. I've been told that if it is plug'd into one of them i won't get the full use from my new cpu. Also have been told that there are AM3 MotherBoards that support both DDR2 and DDR3?. I may not have much money left in order to buy a RAM aswell. So basicly i need help to find a cheap MoutherBoard that can fit my old ddr2 RAM and my new CPU untill i can afford a better MotherBoard Please help.
AM3 is inherently DDR3, that's effectively the only distinction with AM3 as opposed to AM2+, thus you're always losing out slightly if you use DDR2 memory with an AM3 CPU. Using DDR2 with the X4 955 will mean using an old, very low-spec motherboard, as no high-spec boards are produced that can read AM3 CPUs but take DDR2 memory any more. I would strongly recommend you get some DDR3 too if you can. In other words, do some research before you buy!
Thanks for your opinion looks like its ddr3 for me then. Could you/or someone possably point me to a cheap motherboard+ram from this site please http://www.microdirect.co.uk I chose mircodirect because i got fast delivery when i orded last time, and the site use's google checkout which i love. i must keep the price down and saw this http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/48535/Asrock-motherboard-N68-S3-UCC-AMD-AM3-DDR3-mATX My ram will so have to be atleast 2gb Got some parts from my old computer cuch as graphic card,psu,hardrive etc
Microdirect have absolutely no customer service at all, as they're basically a load of scammers. Literally if you try and send something back for a refund they will go 'a refund is too much effort for us, please file a complaint with the small claims court to get one'. Is essentially what they said to a friend of mine. I would always recommend Scan, Ebuyer and CCL over MicroDirect. Also, avoid Asus or ASRock boards, they're cheap and nasty. I'd recommend Gigabyte, MSI or Biostar.
Thanks again for the info hope my processor will be ok as i orded it from mircodirect, anyhow i saw http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/44840/Gigabyte-motherboard-MA78LMT-US2H-AMD-AM3-DDR3 i think this should do the trick do you ?. I'll have to look for it on another website instead of mirco direct thanks for the tip, looking forward to reading your reply 2moro. Thanks for the help.
Thanks for the reply found this instead http://www.ebuyer.com/product/238971 Maybe if i get lucky i might be able to squeeze in a ram, but is this a better choice ?. Never new a costy cpu could cause such a problem for me lol.
That's an OK board, but you will have to leave the CPU stock. Overclocking in that board is a bad idea as you will melt the voltage regulators. (To give you an idea, most people who use Phenom IIs have motherboards that cost as much as the CPU did)
Not really planing on overclocking, this board should be safe then i hope You are the Albert Einstein of pc's for me. Thank you very much for all the help.
